By Maura Dolan
Times Staff Writer
1:55 PM PDT, July 18, 2005
Clarifying the law of sexual harassment in the workplace, the California Supreme Court decided today that a supervisor who engages in consensual sexual affairs with subordinates and favors them with unmerited promotions may be successfully sued by other workers.
In a unanimous decision, the state high court held that a worker can be a victim of sexual harassment even if the boss never asked for sexual favors or made inappropriate advances.
"Even in the absence of coercive behavior, certain conduct creates a work atmosphere so demeaning to women that it constitutes an actionable hostile work environment," Chief Justice Ronald M. George wrote for the court.
A spokesman for Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer called the ruling "unique."
"What the decision means for employers now is that merely having a nepotism or an anti-nepotism policy in place is not enough to protect yourself from liability, said spokesman Nathan Barankin. "This is new, and it is big, potentially."
